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Mickey Richaud

Mickey Richaud

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I've been trying to track down the cause of some serious "slop" in the front end of my '73 B. When I restored it, I rebuilt the suspension, with rebuilt spindles, new bushings, etc. With the front end on jackstands, it is all very tight; no play in the wheel bearings, tie rod ends, or bushings. But whenever I go over bumps and small holes, there is a lot of rattling being telegraphed through the steering wheel. And once, when we hit a really rough spot in the road, there was a very loud metallic "CLANG". Two things I did not replace were the steering rack and the shocks. I pulled the top cover on the rack and added a bit of 90 Wt. oil, though it didn't take much. Steering feels OK, with the exception of the rattles. Tried topping up the shocks to no avail; still very mushy.

Rebuilt shocks are on the way; should be delivered today. Should've replaced them long ago. In the event they aren't the cure I'm hoping, anyone have any thoughts on where to look next?

Mickey
 
Mickey Richaud said:
<snip> Rebuilt shocks are on the way; should be delivered today. Should've replaced them long ago. In the event they aren't the cure I'm hoping, anyone have any thoughts on where to look next?

Mickey
Click to expand...

A little late, but check the mounting bolts of the shocks to the crossmember for tightness.

You don't want THIS to happen....
 

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Not late at all. Thanks, Rick - will do!
 
Steve_S said:
Play in steering column? Loose cross member bolts, or bad cross member pads? Worn steering rack bushings?
Click to expand...

I'm hoping the rack is OK. Will be giving it a closer inspection when I pull the shocks.

As for the cross member, I thought about the pads/loose bolts, but when I pried on it with a crow bar, there didn't seem to be any play. Will double check that as well.

Thanks!
Mickey
 
It's pretty tight, too.
 
Mick, Think that answer should have been
"Don't have to worry about that. It's TIGHT"
 
Thanks, Steve - will do.
 
Got the shocks in yesterday; new bushings for the shock/trunnion today. Just finished installing them and took it for a test drive.

WOW! What a difference! I didn't think dead shocks would've caused that much slop. One of the shocks was so-so; the other had NO resistance at all.

Have to recommend Peter Caldwell at World Wide Imports. Bought the shocks off eBay and am very happy with them. He sent everything necessary to return the cores; all I have to do is drop them off at UPS in the same packaging.

If Peter's not already a member here, I'll be recruiting him!
 
He's a member and, yes, he's awesome (in person too)
 
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